Abstract [en]

In this study, two versions of the indicative document ESG (Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area) are analyzed and compared. The documents express standards and guidelines that aim to guide higher education institutions within the EHEA (European Higher Education Area) in their work with quality assurance. The analyzed and compared versions of the document is the original document printed in English and authored within the Bologna process and a Swedish translation authored by Universitetskanslersämbetet (UKÄ), the Swedish authority with responsibility for quality assurance in higher education on a national level.

Aim

The aim of this study is to analyze and compare how quality and quality assurance is understood by reading indicative documents for quality and quality assurance within the EHEA and Sweden.

Metodological approach

The selection of empirical material and the analytical process is considered an abductive process. In this study, a social semiotic perspective and a discourse theoretical perspective are used. This enables a dynamic interaction between theory, method, research objectives and research questions. This dynamic allows for epistemology and discourse theory to function as one unit as an aspect of the analytical process. With this approach, a critical discourse analysis is preformed via a qualitative content analysis of written text.

Result

The result identifies a semiotic aspect of the focused problem in the social practice. The problematic aspect within the social practice expresses itself through discrepancy between the two documents which are not consistent with regular practice and the order of discourse. The semiotic aspect is the discrepancy occurring in the terminology, the terminology that contributes to constructing a collective knowledge and meaning in the social practice. Furthermore five quality aspects are identified: (I) Granskning och kontroll (Audit and control), (II) Redovisningsansvar, uppföljning och översyn (Accountability, monitoring and review), (III) Läranderesultat (Learning outcomes), (IV) Lärande och undervisning (Learning andteaching) and (V) Bedömning (Assessment).